Crewe–Manchester line

The Crewe–Manchester line is a railway line in North West England, running between Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly. It is a spur of the West Coast Main Line.

Crewe–Manchester line
Northern Rail Class 323 at Cheadle Hulme railway station
Overview
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Stockport Crewe Cheshire Manchester North West England
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Avanti West Coast CrossCountry Northern Trains TransPennine Express Transport for Wales Rail
Rolling stock	Primarily: British Rail Class 67/British Rail Mark 4 Class 197 Class 323 Class 331 Class 390
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	110 mph (180 km/h)
Route map (Click to expand)

Crewe–Manchester line
Liverpool–Manchester lines Ordsall Chord to Manchester Victoria Deansgate Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Mayfield Ardwick branch to Huddersfield line via Ashton-under-Lyme Huddersfield line and Glossop line Longsight Rushford Levenshulme Fallowfield Loop line Mauldeth Road Heaton Chapel Burnage Stockport–Stalybridge line Heaton Mersey Heaton Norris Manchester South District Railway ST&AJR East Didsbury Stockport Cheadle North Cheadle Heath Cheadle Mid-Cheshire line Hope Valley line Gatley to Hazel Grove Heald Green Cheadle Hulme Manchester Airport Stafford–Manchester line Styal Handforth Wilmslow Alderley Edge Chelford Goostrey Holmes Chapel to Northwich Sandbach Sandbach branch to Chester | WCML northbound Crewe Welsh Marches line | to Stoke West Coast Main Line southbound

History

The line was built by the Manchester and Birmingham Railway Company, which diverted to Crewe in 1841 and merged in 1846 with others to form the London and North Western Railway Company. This, in turn, became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923.

The route from Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly, including the Styal line, was the first section of the West Coast Main Line to be electrified, in 1959. The line was upgraded in the early 2000s, as part of the West Coast Main Line modernisation programme. A full service resumed on the line in March 2007.

The line is joined at Cheadle Hulme by the West Coast spur from Stoke-on-Trent. At Stockport, it is then joined by the Mid-Cheshire line from Chester, the Hope Valley line from Sheffield, and by the Buxton line.

In April 2006, Network Rail organised its maintenance and train control operations into '26 Routes'; the Crewe–Manchester line was included in Route 20 (North West Urban).

Services

Northern Trains operates services between Crewe, Alderley Edge and Manchester Piccadilly, via Stockport and the Styal line via Manchester Airport. A number of the Crewe / Alderley Edge – Piccadilly services also extend beyond Piccadilly to terminate at Liverpool Lime Street, Southport and Wigan North Western. Also, a number of services to/from Manchester start or terminate at Wilmslow.

Transport for Wales Rail operates a through express service between Milford Haven and Cardiff, via the Welsh Marches line, to Manchester.

Avanti West Coast operates West Coast Main Line services between London Euston, Crewe and Manchester.

CrossCountry also operates a small number of services on the line between Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street and the South.

External links

• Website of Crewe to Manchester Community Rail Partnership